Recently, gas grills have been proposed or developed which are equipped with semi-automated heating and/or cooking control systems which can he digitally connected to Smart devices such as tablets, cell phones, and the like. An example of one such system for an outdoor grill is shown and described in US2016/0037966. In the grill control system described in US 2016/0037966, each of the individual burners contained in the grill is equipped with its own independent, automated electric control valve and temperature instrument system for controlling the rate of gas flow delivered to the burner.
Unfortunately, although systems have been proposed for remotely monitoring and/or controlling the cooking operations performed in outdoor cookers, these systems have not included means for accurately and consistently ensuring that the user is sufficiently close to the outdoor cooker before allowing the user to remotely activate or control certain critical operations such as, for example, igniting the burner heating elements.
In contrast, when using a standard, non-automated outdoor gas grill or cooker, it has been necessary that the user be physically present at the cooker in order to open the gas flow valves and ignite the burner elements. This has allowed the user to verify that the cooker is in safe condition to be ignited. In other words, by being present at the cooker, the user has been able to physically observe, for example, whether the lid is open, whether there are any flammable materials in close proximity to the cooker, whether the cooker is too close to a wall of the user's home or to a fence or other structure, whether the cooker needs to be moved out from under an awning or other overhead structure, whether there are any young children in close proximity to the cooker, whether a storage covering for the cooker has been properly removed, whether anyone else may be standing close to or looking inside the cooker, etc.
When using cell phone or enabled smart phones or other smart devices for remotely activating and/or controlling outdoor cookers, the user can potentially be positioned any distance away from the outdoor cooker. Moreover, even when using shorter range radio frequency or Bluetooth enabled phones or remotes, the range of such systems is typically sufficient such that the user would still be able to remotely ignite the outdoor cooker even though the user might be indoors, on the other side of the user's house, or otherwise unable to see the cooker.